“Thou art the Sun at the hub of my being. Thy Word is the shaft which fills me, to which I conform myself. O, that I might be the still, silent pool that reflects Thee, the veil that reveals Thee.”

MEDITATION COLOR: Deep blue.

HEBREW LETTER: Mem, water, the universal symbol of consciousness per se. Suggests reflection, silence, and serenity. By etymology and ontogeny, M has a cross-cultural affinity with maternity and the sea, including “matter” and the subtler “matrix” of manifestation. The sound m is reminiscent of hushed running water.

CARD NAME: “Man” (from an identically spelled Indo-European root) is a pun on the root men-, meaning, “to think,” from which comes our word “mind.” The words seem closely related in human consciousness, and often are seen associated with each other. Thus, “Hanged Man” is a way of writing “suspended mind.” The key concept of the English word “hang” is “suspended from above,” i.e., dependent on (and pendant from) something higher without support from anything beneath.

ESOTERIC MEANING: The Stable (or Enduring) Consciousness. It is the power of sustenance (or, sustaining power) among all the Sephiroth.

TREE of LIFE: Hod to Geburah. (Links ‘Glory’ and ‘Strength’; or Intellect and Volition. Suspension of the mind, reversal of perspective following Tifereth stage.)

ESOTERIC TITLE: The Spirit of the Mighty Waters

TANTRIC & ALCHEMICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Water as a formula of Redemption: Practical formula of the Elixir, elaborated in the three cards that immediately follow.

"To advance—that means Work. Patient, exhausting, thankless, often bewildering Work. Dear sister, if you would but Work! Work blindly, foolishly, misguidedly, it doesn’t matter in the end: Work in itself has absolute virtue." -Magick Without Tears

Transitioning from ATU 11 to ATU 12, building on the previous imagery of ATU 11.

I am riding the Lion surrounded in a yellow gold light. At the same time I feel its energy runs through my veins and into the center of my being. It feels like a morning erection in my heart. I am riding the Lion into Tiphareth the Sun. I dismount the lion and my aura starts to turn blue (I am thinking of the Hebrew word Shemesh Shin-Mem-Shin, with Mem at the center). I become very heavy and start to feel ridged. I spread my arms out in the form of a cross. As I start to fall, my left foot catches the Ankh, for some reason, I know what about to happen and it is going to hurt! I fall and spin hard, my back abruptly slams into what feel like a wall. Both my hands and right foot are nailed. I inhale sharply in wordless pain. As I inhale from the painful shock, my Sun center drops into my forehead opening my third eye.

AL III,17: “Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms.”

Day oneGreen background - Love as the source of all submission, submitting, submerging & immersion

White Sphere - The Light of the One Source, shining openly in the field of Love, above what appears to be a barrier between the Hanged Man and the open field of Love.

The Hanged Man is suspended from the Ankh with a serpent wrapped around his foot, connecting him to the Ankh. He has thrown all his faith into Life and let himself go.

He is bound to a grid that is cutting him off from the light and love of his source. It is agonizing and he is grimacing in pain.

But there is hope for a new life. In the water dwells a serpent, coiled, waiting for the right moment to spring forth from the dark, murky waters.

Day TwoThe Mind is a pool, casting reflections back to the observer gazing into the pool.

The Hanged Man's view of his situation is completely skewed and he is suffering in vain. It appears that he is nailed to the grid but on closer inspection is he isn't nailed to it at all. He doesn't seem to be able to discern this. There are holes in the grid where his head, hands and right foot are.

Perhaps he is afraid of the snake waiting for him if he falls into the pool. Will it hurt him? Or Will it help him? He doesn't know.

Either way, he can easily free himself if he relaxed, let's go and slips into the pool.

Day ThreeCut off from the source of our power we are as good as the man nailed to the wall. Stuck. In pain. Uncertain and upside down.

Helplessly bound to the cold rigidity of our fixed ways of thinking..so we think. All there is to do is to let go.

"To advance—that means Work. Patient, exhausting, thankless, often bewildering Work. Dear sister, if you would but Work! Work blindly, foolishly, misguidedly, it doesn’t matter in the end: Work in itself has absolute virtue." -Magick Without Tears

- The man hangs from an Ankh, and his whole body resembles an Ankh in this position: he is firmly “rooted” in Eternity, and from there he exists in the material. This is Higher Mind, Ruach completely surrendered to Neshamah, disciplined so to be utterly conductive.- The upper sphere reflects itself in the lower, like in a mirror; colors on the card associate to Gimel , except that she holds/creates the net, and here he abides in it.- Infinite is the Source, and the finite its manifestation and reflection; he knows this, and acts accordingly.- Linea Viridis Gyrat Vniversa – there is no deviation from own nature; he is firmly nailed to the truth of his own nature.

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- Color: water; ocean depth … there is variety of life here, to which abiding in the air is completely alien; these creatures are not beings of the mind, but of deeper basis of the mind, in human being (onto-genesis).- Who is rigid, sinks in the water; only adaptable, motile, elastic swims.- Enormous power of passivity, surrender, in motion that does not give resistance to any barrier it encounters, flow; the power of Yin, invincible!- Also there is sexual symbolism in this card, I feel it is the key for this Path; continuity of ecstatic state, “energized enthusiasm”.- Conscious mind and ego being a tool in the hands of God, serving as a form through which Thought of God can express itself.- NB: Water has its structures, forms into crystals on lower temperature; see Masaru Emoto’s experiments, etc.

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- If infinity can be said to have color, it would be this deep-blue!- A song comes to my mind, “Here comes the flood” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wS8V8vCUqw- NB: all of Water on this planet is in continuous motion, and the Sun is that which moves it, heating the Earth and the air.

"Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work, & be our bed in working! Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one; we are none."

"To advance—that means Work. Patient, exhausting, thankless, often bewildering Work. Dear sister, if you would but Work! Work blindly, foolishly, misguidedly, it doesn’t matter in the end: Work in itself has absolute virtue." -Magick Without Tears

Water flows downward: the glyph represents this. Waves and ripples of emotion (embodied by the fluidic, changeable nature of the element)--these are the basis of suffering. Formula of the Dying God: "...the corpse of Osiris afloat in the tomb..."--the resignation of the Adept to the tribulation of ordeal; eventually stilling the Animal Consciousness; Union of Mind-Body-Soul. Sat-Chit-Ananda attained by suffering--the suffering necessary to Self-Realization. Again the pain of Asana comes to mind. I recall the exquisite agony of heroin withdrawal: the ultimate manifestation of pain eventually accepted as a sacrament & transcended. The IAO formula of redemption consummated & redeemed by the triumph of Horus who has avoided the grasp of the Dweller in the Water, the Crocodile Typhon.

Stillness of the mind is attainted through voluntary suffering. The secret of redemption exemplified by the path from Hod (Glory) to Geburah (Action.)

4.27.14

"...green, the color of Venus, signifies Grace." --Book of Thoth

12:17 P.M.-12:41 P.M.

Fair. The Adept dies and is reborn in the womb--similar to a crucible in which all is cleansed and made new. The subconscious where memory is active is like water: constant flux. To still this flux and penetrate the core of being requires a stillness which is a kind of death of the individual.

Water is an essential factor in the flux of energy between beings. The glyph of water shows water coursing downwards according to the "path of least resistance."

Not a great deal of intellectual matter to be gleaned from this meditation--just stillness and purity of consciousness. I bask as though refreshed by a clear and cold spring of water; I am cleansed of all impurity.

Traditionally, most people would attribute the imagery of a tarot trump invertedas negative or shadow, but I can't help but feel that for the new aeon 'Mem' is inverted (Ironicallyone of my favorite decks by Jean Beauchard calls 'The Hanged Man', 'Inversion').I've also noticed that the imagery itself of this 'flip' has in recent years emanated intoartistic imagery and some of it is IN YOUR FACE media, not obscure art. This is just a thought, but does anyone else have an opinion on this? Also, if it's flipped the hanged man's head points towards Geburah...

BTW, is that a serpent wrapped about his foot/leg? It reminds me of the Egyptian depictions of Horus stepping on the serpent, and incidentally being struck by it. This is telling unless I've been seeing it wrong, referring to Thoth imagery.

Suspended from the Ankh – symbol of eternal life – indicating the divine quality of immortalityPosture somewhat similar to Christ’s. With nails at hands and feet. Godly gift to humanity. From his head come out rays – the divine wisdom offered through the sacrificial man for the sake of humanity. On the bottom – waters of the collective unconscious. In the black of the water is serpent (the black indicating shadow aspect of the unconscious) that which is to be uncovered and reconciled by humanity. In psychological context Jung writes of snakes: “The serpent is an adversary and a symbol of enmity, but also a wise bridge that connects right and left through longing, much needed by our life.”Serpent – knowledge – coiled around ankh – divine knowledge, ultimate wisdom that stands the test of time

Meditation 2

There are 8 long rays coming out of the sun’s center on top – the sphere of intellect. His posture is in that of surrender – surrender through divine influence/impact. Card is highly geometric – everything is in geometric terms – all the shapes, including his posture, his facial features and body physique – nature has inherently harmonious proportions and is geometric – perhaps this geometric emphasis means that one can arrive to spiritual balance in surrender of oneself for the divine principle.Repetition of circular shape (shape of unity) Out of his head “rain” of wisdom pours down – transference of divine knowledge - "rain of Dharma"Small squares comprising larger square – repetition of principle from minute to vast – as within so without, as above so below.

Meditation 3

Reflection of the sun (half-circle solar shape) in water – again as above so below; at the center of our subconscious is the reflection of the highest.Suspended between the earth and heaven – man belongs to both. Being of both worlds he connects the exalted with the mundane – within him the two can be reconciled – as portrayed well among the Tantric Adepts who enjoy the divine bliss through mundane means.Outlined square behind him is made of 17x17 smaller squares. Taken from book "775-1/2" number 17 under Magical Powers and Mystical States: Power of being in two or more places at one time & of Prophecy, Alchemical Fixation. The idea of being in two places at one time connects back to my observation that man belongs to both worlds.

"As long as space endures, as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world." - Arya Shantideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra